Journalist threatened after reporting on Veracruz murder

Mexico City, April 17, 2013--The national
Mexican magazine Procesoreported Tuesday that it has
learned of a plot by officials in the government of Veracruz to harm journalist
Jorge Carrasco, who has reported extensively on the murder of the magazine's correspondent
in that state. The Committee to Protect
Journalists calls on authorities to fully investigate the alleged threats and
to ensure Carrasco's safety.

Proceso said that on beginning Sunday it has been receiving information
from confidential sources that current and former officials in the state
government, the state police, and the state Attorney General's office had been
meeting to discuss taking "hostile actions against the reporter in response to
his most recent publication on the Regina Martínez case." Journalist and senior
editor Jorge Carrasco has written in-depth, critical reports on the investigation
of the April 2012 murder of
the Proceso correspondent in Veracruz,
Regina Martínez Pérez.

Since Martínez's death, the magazine has
alleged that the most likely motive for her murder was the journalist's
critical reporting on state officials, although it has offered no proof.
Officials deny the claim. On April 9, Jorge Antonio Hernández Silva was
sentenced to 38 years in prison for the murder, for which authorities say the
motive was robbery. On Sunday, Proceso
published a report by Carrasco that seriously questioned the state's case
against Hernández.

"Authorities must fully investigate these
threats, including all possible links to Veracruz authorities, and ensure the
safety of Carrasco and his family," said CPJ's Deputy Director Robert Mahoney
from New York.

According to Proceso, officials had discussed ways to use police data banks to
locate Carrasco. The magazine said it verified that police were then sent to
several Mexican states to collect information on Carrasco, but did not
elaborate. A source close to the case who asked to remain anonymous told CPJ
that there had been a plan underway to kill the reporter, with men looking for
him in Mexico City. Procesopublished today a letter it
received from state attorney general Felipe Amadeo Flores Espinosa calling the
accusations "unfounded" and asking the magazine to immediately present any
corroborating evidence it might have to authorities so they can investigate.

Federal authorities who asked to remain
anonymous told CPJ that federal officials have been following the case since
Monday and that Carrasco and his family have been offered federal police protection.

While Governor Javier Duarte has made
efforts in public statements to cast the state as a safe place for the press, under
his tenure Veracruz has become one of the most dangerous
states for journalists in Mexico. At least eight have been murdered since
he took office in late 2010, and many more have fled-- permanently or
temporarily--not only because of threats from organized crime but also from
state government officials, according to CPJ research. They claim that
reporting which looks at corruption or ties between government officials and
organized crime is impossible.

Local corruption in many states led the Mexican
Senate to approve a constitutional amendment in March 2012 that gives federal
authorities broader jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes against
freedom of expression. Secondary legislation that will effectively implement
the reform recently passed the Senate and awaits approval in the lower house.

"This case demonstrates why the Mexican
authorities must complete the process to federalize anti-press crimes," said
CPJ's Mahoney. "As long as journalists who report on corruption are at the
mercy of local authorities, they, and freedom of the press, will not be safe."